Substance over style the mantra for record-breaking Deschamps
Among the awards passed out at FIFA’s annual celebratory gala this month was one for the year’s top coach. Having guided France to their second World Cup title this summer - the first one he had won as captain Didier Deschamps became the third man to win the showpiece event as both player and coach.
In an era of the superstar coach, of names celebrated for their grand, attack-minded philosophies — think Pep Guardiola or Jürgen Klopp — Deschamps, 49, remains something of a throwback: an artisan among the aesthetes, a supporter of efficiency over effervescence, a champion of substance over style.
“In some of the matches we didn’t have as much possession as the other teams, but it wasn’t because we weren’t dangerous,” Deschamps said of criticism of his unabashedly cautious style.
LONDON:
“In football, you don’t hold on to the ball just to hold on to the ball. When you have it you need to be dangerous, create opportunities and score goals. And when you don’t, you make sure the opposition doesn’t.”
To Deschamps, beauty on the soccer field isn’t important. “At the highest level, if you don’t have a solid defensive base, you can’t get by. In one match, yes. But over a whole competition? No,” he remarked.
“For me, the goal is to make the most of each player, play them in the position they feel best in. And then repeat, repeat, repeat.”